Electronic Devices With Sidewall Displays

ABSTRACT

Electronic devices may be provided that contain flexible displays that are bent to form displays on multiple surfaces of the devices. Bent flexible displays may be bent to form front side displays and edge displays. Edge displays may be separated from front side displays or from other edge displays using patterned housing members, printed or painted masks, or by selectively activating and inactivating display pixels associated with the flexible display. Edge displays may alternately function as virtual buttons, virtual switches, or informational displays that are supplemental to front side displays. Virtual buttons may include transparent button members, lenses, haptic feedback components, audio feedback components, or other components for providing feedback to a user when virtual buttons are activated.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/246,510, filed Sep. 27, 2011, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. This application claims the benefit ofand claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/246,510,filed Sep. 27, 2011.

BACKGROUND

This relates generally to flexible displays, and more particularly, toelectronic devices with flexible displays.

Electronic devices such as portable computers and cellular telephonesare often provided with rigid displays made from rigid displaystructures. For example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) may be formedfrom a stack of rigid display structures such as a thin-film transistorglass layer with display pixels for providing visual feedback to a user,a color filter glass layer for providing the display pixels with color,a touch screen panel for gathering touch input from a user, and a coverglass layer for protecting the display and internal components.

Conventional devices may also have input-output components such asbuttons, microphones, speakers, and other components that receive ortransmit tactile input from a user mounted on edges of the device awayfrom the display. Tactile input components are often formed from slidingor reciprocating button members and associated electrical componentssuch as switches.

Flexible display technologies are available that allow displays to beflexed. For example, flexible displays may be formed using flexibleorganic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology.

It would be desirable to be able to use flexible display technology toprovide improved electronic devices such as electronic devices withinput-output components.

SUMMARY

Electronic devices may be provided with flexible displays. The flexibledisplays may include one or more flexible layers and may be mountedunder a transparent display cover layer such as a layer of clear glassor plastic. For example, a flexible display may be mounted on theunderside of a cover layer. Flexible displays may include atouch-sensitive layer that allows a user to provide touch input to anelectronic device. Display pixels on a flexible display may be used todisplay visual information to the user.

An electronic device may have a housing in which a flexible display ismounted. The housing and flexible display may be configured to formplanar front and rear surfaces and sidewall surfaces for the device. Aflexible display may be mounted so that at least a first portion of theflexible display is mounted on the front surface of the device and formspart of the front surface. The flexible display may have a bend thatallows a second portion of the flexible display to cover some of thesidewall surfaces of the device.

The flexible display may be used for displaying information and visualfeedback to a user and for accepting input from a user. Active portionsof the display configured for user input and output functions may beseparated from inactive portions of the display using an opaque maskinglayer. The opaque masking layer may be formed on an inner surface of thecover layer.

Openings may be formed in the opaque masking layer on the front andsidewall surfaces of the device. The front portion of the flexibledisplay may be viewed through an opaque masking layer opening on thefront of the device. Sidewall portions of the flexible display may beviewed through one or more sidewall openings in the opaque maskinglayer.

Active portions (illuminated regions of pixels) on the sidewall edges ofan electronic device may be used to create virtual user interfacecontrols such as buttons. The buttons or other user input interfaceelements may be reconfigured during use of the electronic device. Forexample, the user input interface elements on the sidewall of anelectronic device may be repurposed for supporting user input operationsin different operating modes of the electronic device. Virtual buttonson the edge of a device may be provided in place of tactile input/outputcomponents such as physical buttons and switches or may be formed aspart of a dummy button structure or other mechanical feature.

During operation of an electronic device, a virtual button may be, forexample, a virtual volume button for controlling audio output volume andmay be repurposed based on user input to become a virtual camera shutterbutton for taking a picture or may be reconfigured to serve as acontroller for another device function. Images displayed on the flexibledisplay may indicate to a user which function is currently beingperformed by the virtual button. Predetermined inputs to thetouch-sensitive layer on the edge of the device (e.g., tapping, sliding,swiping, or other motions of an external object such as a finger acrossthe edge of the device) may be used to change the operating mode of thedevice.

Further features of the invention, its nature and various advantageswill be more apparent from the accompanying drawings and the followingdetailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device with aflexible display having portions on multiple surfaces of a device inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative set of display layers that may beused to form a flexible display in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of an illustrative electronicdevice showing touch-sensitive edge displays on an edge of the deviceformed from a portion of a bent flexible display and a patterned housingmember in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of an illustrative electronicdevice showing touch-sensitive edge displays on an edge of the deviceformed from a portion of a bent flexible display and an opaque maskinglayer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of an illustrative electronicdevice showing touch-sensitive edge displays on an edge of the deviceformed from a portion of a bent flexible display in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrativeelectronic device in the vicinity of a virtual button having atransparent button member in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrativeelectronic device in the vicinity of a virtual button having an internalcomponent in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of an illustrative edge display portion of aflexible display showing how user input may be used to change theoperating mode of an electronic device in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view of an illustrative edge display portion of aflexible display showing how portions of the edge display may berepurposed based on user input in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrativeelectronic device in the vicinity of a virtual button having atransparent button member and a tactile feedback member in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrativeelectronic device in the vicinity of a virtual button having anassociated lens in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of an illustrativeelectronic device in the vicinity of a virtual button having atransparent button member with a lens in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of illustrative control circuitry coupled to atouch-sensitive flexible display having a front surface display portionand a sidewall surface display portion with illuminated touch-sensitiveregions in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic deviceshowing how virtual sidewall buttons may form a portion of a gamingcontroller when the device is operated in a landscape position inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a side view of a portion of an illustrative edge displayportion of a flexible display showing how user the edge display portionmay include virtual buttons for selecting a software application inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a side view of a portion of an illustrative edge displayportion of a flexible display showing how user the edge display portionmay include virtual buttons specific to a software application inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a side view of a portion of an illustrative edge displayportion of a flexible display showing how user the edge display portionmay include virtual buttons specific to a software application inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a side view of a portion of an illustrative edge displayportion of a flexible display showing how user the edge display portionmay include a scrollable list that is scrollable in multiple dimensionsin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a side view of a portion of an illustrative edge displayportion of a flexible display showing how user the edge display portionmay display a different list based on a user touch-input to the edgedisplay in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a side view of a portion of an illustrative edge displayportion of a flexible display showing how user the edge display portionmay display a different list entry based on a user touch-input to theedge display in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An electronic device may be provided that has a flexible display withbent edges. Bent edges of the flexible display may be visible along asidewall or edge of the electronic device.

Flexible displays may be formed from flexible layers such as a flexibledisplay layer (e.g., a flexible organic light-emitting diode array), aflexible touch-sensitive layer (e.g., a sheet of polymer with an arrayof transparent capacitor electrodes for a capacitive touch sensor), aflexible substrate layer, etc. These flexible layers may, if desired, becovered by a flexible or rigid cover layer (sometimes referred to as acover glass) or may be supported by a support structure (e.g., a rigidsupport structure on the underside of the flexible layers).

Portions of the flexible display may be visible on multiple surfaces ofan electronic device. For example, a planar portion of the display maybe visible on a front or back surface of the device while an edgeportion that has been bent along a sidewall of the electronic device maybe visible on the edge of the device.

Portions of the flexible display that are visible from the side of thedevice may be used to display information and virtual buttons for outputand input of information to and from a user, respectively.

An illustrative electronic device of the type that may be provided witha flexible display having bent edges visible along an edge of the deviceis shown in FIG. 1. Electronic device 10 may be a portable electronicdevice or other suitable electronic device. For example, electronicdevice 10 may be a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a somewhatsmaller device such as a wrist-watch device, pendant device, or otherwearable or miniature device, a cellular telephone, a media player, etc.

Device 10 may include a housing such as housing 12. Housing 12, whichmay sometimes be referred to as a case, may be formed of plastic, glass,ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum,etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of these materials. Insome situations, parts of housing 12 may be formed from dielectric orother low-conductivity material. In other situations, housing 12 or atleast some of the structures that make up housing 12 may be formed frommetal elements.

Device 10 may have a flexible display such as flexible display 14.Flexible display 14 may be formed from multiple layers of material.These layers may include a touch sensor layer such as a layer on which apattern of indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes or other suitabletransparent electrodes have been deposited to form a capacitive touchsensor array. These layers may also include a layer that contains anarray of display pixels. The touch sensor layer and the display layermay be formed using flexible sheets of polymer or other substrateshaving thicknesses of 10 microns to 0.5 mm or other suitable thicknesses(as an example).

The display pixel array may be, for example, an organic light-emittingdiode (OLED) array. Other types of flexible display pixel arrays mayalso be formed (e.g., electronic ink displays, etc.). The use of OLEDtechnology to form flexible display 14 is sometimes described herein asan example. This is, however, merely illustrative. Flexible display 14may be formed using any suitable flexible display technology. The use offlexible displays that are based on OLED technology is merelyillustrative.

Display 14 may have portions that are visible on a front side such asfront surface 22 of device 10 and portions that are bent so that theyare visible on edges such as sidewall surfaces 24 of device 10. Ifdesired, display 14 may be bent such that portions of display 14 arevisible from a back side (e.g., a surface opposing front surface 22) ofdevice 10.

In addition to functional display layers (i.e., the OLED array and theoptional touch sensor array), display 14 may include one or morestructural layers. For example, display 14 may be covered with aflexible or rigid cover layer and/or may be mounted on a supportstructure (e.g., a rigid support). Layers of adhesive may be used inattaching flexible display layers to each other and may be used inmounting flexible display layers to rigid and flexible structurallayers.

In configurations for display 14 in which the cover layer for display 14is flexible, input-output components that rely on the presence offlexible layers may be mounted at any suitable location under thedisplay (e.g., along peripheral portions of the display, in a centralportion of the display, etc.). In configurations for display 14 in whichthe flexible layers are covered by a rigid cover glass layer or otherrigid cover layer, the rigid layer may be provided with one or moreopenings and electronic components may be mounted under the openings.For example, a rigid cover layer may have openings for components suchas button 17 and speaker component 19 (e.g., for an ear speaker for auser). Device 10 may also have other openings (e.g., openings in display14 and/or housing 12 for accommodating volume buttons, ringer buttons,sleep buttons, and other buttons, openings for an audio jack, data portconnectors, removable media slots, etc.).

Housing 12 may nave openings such as openings 18 that allow bentportions of display 14 to be visible through openings 18. In the exampleof FIG. 1, housing 12 has three openings 18 for portions of display 14that may be configured to be virtual buttons, virtual switches,scrolling displays, etc. This is merely illustrative. If desired, all ofdisplay 14 may be visible through housing 12 (e.g., using a transparentmaterial to form housing 12), housing 12 may nave more than threeopenings, less than three openings, round openings, rectilinearopenings, oval shaped or oddly shaped openings, etc. If desired, atransparent cover layer may extend over edges 24 of device 10 forming acontinuous display around device 10. Portions of a continuous displayaround device 10 may be configured to be virtual buttons, virtualswitches, scrolling displays, etc. In configurations in which device 10is provided with a continuous transparent cover layer, portions ofdisplay 14 may be separated from other portions of display 14 using aprinted or painted mask on an internal surface of the cover layer or maybe separated by selectively activating and inactivating display pixelsto create virtual borders, virtual sections, or other visualdelineations between portions of display 14.

In some embodiments, portions of flexible display 14 such as peripheralregions 201 may be inactive and portions of display 14 such asrectangular central portion 20A (bounded by dashed line 20) maycorrespond to the active part of display 14. In active display region20A, an array of image pixels may be used to present text and images toa user of device 10. In active region 20A, display 14 may includetouch-sensitive components for input and interaction with a user ofdevice 10. If desired, regions such as regions 20I and 20A in FIG. 1 mayboth be provided with display pixels (i.e., all or substantially all ofthe entire front planar surface of a device such as device 10 may becovered with display pixels). Edge portions of display 14 along edges 24of device 10 may form a part of active regions 20A. Edge portions ofdisplay 14 forming part of active region 20A may contain portions of thearray of image pixels for presenting to present text and images to auser of device 10 and touch-sensitive components for input andinteraction with a user of device 10.

By folding the edges of flexible touch-sensitive display 14 (e.g., aflexible display layer and a flexible couch-sensitive layer),customizable illuminated touch-sensitive regions such as virtual buttonsmay be displayed along edges 24 of device 10. Providing customizablevirtual buttons may reduce system overhead costs and delays associatedwith creating and assembling individual physical buttons and switches.

Customizable virtual buttons can be repurposed during normal operationof device 10. Graphical and text displays on display 14 may indicate thecurrent purpose and location of a virtual button to a user of device 10.As an example, round virtual buttons indicating a “+” and “−” forraising and lowering audio output volume may be replaced by an image ofa camera when a user changes from an audio mode of operation to an imagecapture mode of operation of device 10. Virtual buttons may includebuttons specific to a particular software application installed ondevice 10. Virtual buttons may include locking and unlocking buttons.Locking and unlocking buttons may be operated using a swipe, pinch, orother touch action by a user of device 10. Virtual buttons may includebuttons specific to gaming software installed on device 10. For example,virtual buttons may include buttons on edges 24 that may be operated bya user when holding device 10 in a landscape orientation duringoperation of device 10 in a gaming mode. Virtual buttons may be operatedusing touch, tap, swipe, pinch or other touch inputs to virtual buttons.Virtual buttons may include buttons commonly provided on a full sizedcomputer keyboard (e.g., caps lock, shift, control, delete, pageup/down, number lock, function specific buttons, escape, enter, etc.).Virtual buttons may include buttons commonly found on a calculator(e.g., multiply, add, divide, subtract, memory storage, clear, allclear, percent, square root, or other calculator buttons). Virtualbuttons may include buttons for selecting specific software applicationavailable on device 10 (e.g., text messaging, calendar, calculator,media player, web browser, email client, cellular telephone, or othersoftware applications). Virtual buttons may include images or icons thatindicate the current function of the virtual button. Virtual buttons mayinclude buttons commonly found on cellular telephone such as a menubutton, a ringer on/off switch, a ringer on/off/vibrate switch, alock/unlock button, a call button, an end-call button, or any otherbutton associate with a cellular telephone.

During normal operation, when virtual buttons are not needed, portionsof display 14 that display virtual buttons along edges 24 of device 10may be reassigned as an additional display for displaying text and imageinformation to a user of device 10 or may be inactivated. Additionaledge displays may be used to display scrollable lists such as artistlists, song lists, album lists, playlist lists, video lists, genrelists, webcast lists, audio book lists, or other scrollable lists. Usertouch input to edge displays may cause information to scroll verticallyor horizontally across edge displays. As an example, in a media playermode of operation, a horizontal swipe may cause circuitry associatedwith device 10 to change an edge display from an artist list to a songlist. A vertical swipe may cause circuitry associated with device 10 toscroll through a song list, an artist list, or other list. Theseexamples are merely illustrative. Displays that are visible on edges ofdevice 10 may be used to display any information or to form any virtualbutton function.

If desired, device 10 may include one or more sensors such as proximitysensor 124 for preventing erroneous inputs to virtual buttons such asvirtual buttons 52 on a sidewall of device 10. For example, in somemodes of operation for device 10, device 10 may be held in a portrait(e.g., vertical) orientation, while in other modes of operation fordevice 10, device 10 may be held in a landscape orientation (e.g., ahorizontal orientation). Holding device 10 in a portrait or landscapeorientation may result in a user's hands covering different portions ofdevice 10. Sensors such as proximity sensor 124 may be used to determinewhether a touch input to virtual buttons 52 is an intended touch by afinger or, for example, an unintended touch by the palm of a hand. Thisis merely illustrative. Other device components such as light sensors,motion sensors (accelerometers), capacitance sensors, etc. may beincluded and used to determine the orientation of device 10 and theintent of a touch input to virtual buttons 52. Software running ondevice 10 may be configured to accept input from components such asproximity sensor 124 or other components to determine whether atouch-input to virtual buttons 52 is intended or unintended.Touch-inputs to virtual buttons 52 that are determined to be unintendedmay be ignored.

An exploded perspective view of an illustrative display is shown in FIG.2. As shown in FIG. 2, flexible display 14 may be formed by stackingmultiple layers including flexible display layer 14A, touch-sensitivelayer 14B, and a transparent display cover layer such as cover layer14C. Cover layer 14C may form a planar front surface of device 10. Coverlayer 14C may have a thickness of, for example, 0.1 mm to 3 mm, 0.1 to1.5 mm, 0.1 to 2 mm, 1 to 2 mm, 0.7 to 2 mm, more than 0.1 mm or lessthan 2 mm. Flexible display 14 may also include other layers of materialsuch as adhesive layers, optical films, or other suitable layers.Flexible display layer 14 may include image pixels formed formlight-emitting diodes (LSDs), organic LEDs (OLEDs), plasma cells,electronic ink elements, liquid crystal display (LCD) components, orother suitable image pixel structures compatible with flexible displays.

Touch-sensitive layer 14B may incorporate capacitive touch electrodessuch as horizontal transparent electrodes 32 and vertical transparentelectrodes 34. Touch-sensitive layer 14B may, in general, be configuredto detect the location of one or more touches or near touches ontouch-sensitive layer 14B based on capacitive, resistive, optical,acoustic, inductive, or mechanical measurements, or any phenomena chatcan be measured with respect to the occurrences of the one or moretouches or near touches in proximity to touch-sensitive layer 14B.

Software and/or hardware may be used to process the measurements of thedetected touches to identify and track one or more gestures. A gesturemay correspond to stationary or non-stationary, single or multiple,touches or near touches on touch-sensitive layer 14B. A gesture may beperformed by moving one or more fingers or other objects in a particularmanner on touch-sensitive layer 14B such as tapping, pressing, rocking,scrubbing, twisting, changing orientation, pressing with varyingpressure and the like at essentially the same time, contiguously, orconsecutively. A gesture may be characterized by, but is not limited toa pinching, sliding, swiping, rotating, flexing, dragging, or tappingmotion between or with any other finger or fingers. A single gesture maybe performed with one or more hands, by one or more users, or anycombination thereof.

Cover layer 14C may be formed from or glass (sometimes referred to asdisplay cover glass) or plastic and may be flexible or rigid. Ifdesired, the interior surface of peripheral inactive portions 20I ofcover layer 14C may be provided with an opaque masking layer such asblack ink, black plastic film, silver ink, silver plastic film or opaquemasking layer of another color.

Touch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB may be formed from displaypixel array layer 14A and optional touch sensor layer 14B.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of device 10 in the vicinityof openings 18 in housing 12. As shown in FIG, 3, cover layer 14C mayform a front side 22 of device 10. Cover layer 14C may be mounted tohousing 12. Housing 12 may have portions that form a sidewall 24 (alsoreferred to herein as an edge or edge portion, housing sidewall,sidewall surface, etc.) of device 10. Edge portions 24 of device 10 maybe substantially planar and may have portions that are substantiallyperpendicular to cover layer 14C. Portions of housing 12 that form edges24 of device 10 may be provided with openings such as openings 18.Openings 18 may be partially or substantially filled by a transparentmaterial such as transparent material 33. Transparent material 33 may beformed form plastic, glass or any other suitable transparent material.Transparent material 33 may be flexible or rigid. Transparent material33 may allow portions of touch-sensitive flexible display section 14ABto be accessible through openings 18 in housing 12. Touch-sensitiveflexible display section 14AB may foe attached to housing 12 and coverlayer 14C using an adhesive layer such as adhesive layer 36. Adhesivelayer 36 may be formed from any suitable transparent adhesive. As shownin FIG. 3, portions of display 14 may be visible on top side 22 ofdevice 10 (e.g., a front side display) and portions of display 14 may bevisible on edge 24 of device 10 (e.g., an edge display). Portions ofdisplay 14 visible on edge 24 of device 10 may be virtual userinput-output components such as touch-sensitive edge display portions 52(also sometimes referred to herein as touch-sensitive edge displays,virtual buttons, virtual interfaces, edge displays, edge interfaces,illuminated touch-sensitive display regions, or virtual switches). Ifdesired, all or substantially all of edge 24 of device 10 may be used asan edge display. If desired control circuitry such as conductive traces122, may be formed in portions of display 14 that are hidden from viewby housing 12. Conductive traces 122 may provide control lines, drivelines, or other electrical connections for display pixels in display 14.

During manufacturing of device 10, display pixels in display 14 that arepositioned under openings 18 in housing 12 may be calibrated as buttonpixels (i.e., pixels that correspond to a virtual button such as virtualbutton 52). During normal operation of device 10, display pixelscalibrated as button pixels may be configured to be illuminated and maybe configured to display an image indicating the current function of theindicated pixels. User input (e.g., touch input using a finger) in thevicinity of button pixels of display 14 may activate the virtual button.A user of device 10 may change the function of button pixels by changingthe operational mode of device 10. Users may change the operational modeof device 10 using buttons such as button 17 of FIG. 1 or using virtualbuttons on front side 22 or edge 24 of device 10. User input thatchanges the operational mode of device 10 may be touch input (e.g.,tapping, swiping, pinching, etc.) to touch-sensitive layer 14B offlexible display 14. Users may change the mode of operation of device 10together with the display function of edge displays 52 or may change themode display function of edge displays 52 without changing the mode ofoperation of device 10. For example, during operation of device 10 in acellular telephone or audio playback mode, edge displays 52 may functionas virtual buttons for changing the volume of the audio output fromdevice 10. If desired, a user may change the display function of edgedisplays 52 to display the name of a caller or a song name, artist name,album name or other information related to a song, video or other mediaon device 10. In some configurations, device 10 may be provided withmultiple edge displays 52 as shown in FIG. 3. In configurations in whichdevice 10 includes multiple edge displays 52, some edge displays 52 maybe configured to operate as virtual buttons while other edge displays 52are configured to operate as informational or graphical displays.

As shown in FIG. 3, flexible display 14 may be bent so that a portionsuch as portion 40 is parallel to front side 22 of device 10 and aportion such as portion 42 is parallel to edge 24 of device 10. This ismerely illustrative. Portions of flexible display 14 may, if desired, beparallel to any side of device 10 or may have a curved shape thatconforms to non-planar portions of housing 12 or cover layer 14C (e.g.,convex or concave portions of device 10).

If desired, cover layer 14C may be extended around a corner of device 10from front side 22 to edge 24 of device 10 as shown in FIG. 4. In theexample of FIG. 4, housing 12 and cover layer 14C form an interface 48on sidewall surface 24 of device 10. Touch-sensitive flexible displaysection 14AB may be attached to cover layer 14C using an adhesive layersuch as adhesive layer 36 interposed between touch-sensitive flexibledisplay section 14AB and cover layer 14C. Portions of an internalsurface of cover layer 14C may be patterned with a masking material toform a patterned opaque masking layer such as patterned opaque maskinglayer 46. Patterned opaque masking layer 46 may be formed from anysuitable masking material (e.g., black ink, silver ink, black or silverplastic film, etc.). Patterned opaque masking layer 46 may be painted,printed or otherwise deposited on inner surface 50 of cover layer 14C sothat active portions 20A may be delineated from inactive portions 20I oftouch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB. As shown in FIG. 4, oneor more illuminated touch-sensitive regions (edge displays) 52 may beformed from active regions 20A on edge 24 of device 10. Patterned opaquemasking layer 46 may be provided with openings such as openings 51 thatdefine active display regions 20A on front surface 22 and sidewallsurface 24 of device 10. Portions of display 14 may be visible throughopenings 51. Patterned opaque masking layer 46 may have portionsinterposed between portions of display cover layer 14C on front side 22of device 10 and flexible display 14. Patterned opaque masking layer 46may have portions interposed between portions of display cover layer 14Con sidewall surface 24 of device 10 and flexible display 14. Patternedopaque masking layer 46 may have openings 51 under display cover layer14C on both front side 22 and sidewall surface 24 of device 10.Touch-sensitive flexible display layers 14AB may be visible throughopenings 51. Display pixels in touch-sensitive flexible display section14AB in active regions 20A on edge 24 may be pre-calibrated duringmanufacturing of device 10 as button pixels associated with virtualinterfaces 52. Virtual interfaces 52 may be virtual buttons (e.g., forraising or lowering audio volume, for activating an electronic ormechanical camera shutter, for changing operational modes, etc.), may bevirtual switches, or may be supplemental displays for displaying text,image, video or other information for users of device 10. Active region20A on front side 22 of device 10 may form a front surface displayportion of display 14 and illuminated touch-sensitive regions 52 onsidewall 24 of device 10 may be formed from a sidewall surface portionof display 14. The front surface display portion may be visuallyseparated from illuminated touch-sensitive regions 52 using patternedopaque masking layer 46. If desired control circuitry such as conductivetraces 122, may be formed in portions of display 14 that are hidden fromview by patterned opaque masking layer 46. Conductive traces 122 mayprovide control lines, drive lines, or other electrical connections fordisplay pixels In display 14.

If desired, active portions 20A and inactive portions 20I of display 14may be defined using active portions 54 and inactive portions 56 oftouch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB as shown in FIG. 5. Ininactive portions 56 of touch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB,display pixels in display layer 14A and touch-sensitive elements intouch-sensitive layer 14B may be temporarily or permanently disabled.Inactive portions 56 and active portions 54 of touch-sensitive flexibledisplay section 14AB may be configured to create edge displays 52 onedge 24 of device 10. In configurations in which edge displays 52 arecreated using active portions 54 and inactive portions 56 oftouch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB, virtual user interfaces52 may be re-positioned, resized, or otherwise reallocated by changingthe distribution of inactive and active display pixels andtouch-sensitive elements. As an example, one or more virtual buttons 52may be moved and resized to position 60 along edge 24 of device 10.Alternatively, an additional virtual button 52 may be added at position60 on sidewall surface 24 of device 10.

Touch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB may be attached to coverlayer 14C using any suitable transparent adhesive 36. Providing device10 with a flexible display such as flexible display 14 that conforms toinner surface 50 of cover layer 14C may allow substantially all of frontside 22 and edge 24 of device 10 to be part of active display area 20Aand to be used for display and user interface purposes. Active regions20A on edge 24 of device 10 may be used as a display that issupplemental to active portions 20A on front side 22 of device 10.Supplemental displays on edge 24 of device 10 may be virtual userinterface components, scrolling displays, may display information aboutmedia (e.g., songs or movies) currently playing or currently stored ondevice 10, may display information about current or recent cellulartelephone calls, text messages, email updates, webpage updates, etc.

Portions of display 14 may interchangeably be allocated to activeregions 20A and inactive regions 20I. Portions of display 14 that formvirtual buttons during one mode of operating device 10 may be repurposedto form a portion of an informational display during another mode ofoperation of device 10. Virtual buttons that are created in a portion ofdisplay 14 that is repurposed may be reallocated to another portion ofdisplay 14. If desired control circuitry such as conductive traces 122,may be formed in inactive region 20I. Conductive traces 122 may providecontrol lines, drive lines, or other electrical connections for displaypixels in display 14.

As shown in FIG. 6, virtual buttons 52 on edge 24 of device 10 may havean associated transparent button member. Virtual buttons 52 formed fromactive portions of touch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB may beformed in openings such as openings 18 in a structural member such asstructural member 68. Structural member 68 may be formed from a portionof housing 12, may be formed from a portion of cover layer 14C or may beformed from another structural member of device 10. A button member suchas button member 62 may be mounted in opening 18. Button member 62 maybe a dummy button member that serves as a tactile indicator for a userof device 10 indicating the location of virtual button 52. Button member62 may be formed from a transparent material such as plastic, glass, orother transparent material. Light such as light 64 generated by displaypixels in display layer 14A may pass through button member 62 so thatvirtual button 52 may be visible through button member 62. Providingvirtual button 52 with a transparent button member such as button member62 may provide a user with a tactile button indicator while allowingvirtual button 52 to be repurposed for different operating modes ofdevice 10.

As shown in FIG. 7, virtual buttons 52 on edge 24 of device 10 may havean associated feedback element for providing tactile and/or audiofeedback to a user of device 10 during activation of virtual buttonssuch as virtual buttons 52. As shown in FIG. 7, feedback components suchas feedback component 70 may be mounted to flexible display 14 in the atthe location of one or more of virtual interfaces 52. Feedback component70 may generate a haptic, audio or other feedback response when virtualbutton 52 is activated. Virtual button 52 may be activated by a responseto a touch or near touch in the vicinity of an active portion oftouch-sensitive layer 14B of display 14 associated with virtual button52. Feedback component 70 may be an actuator such as a motor, solenoid,vibrator, or piezoelectric actuator, an audio component such as aspeaker, or other component. In configurations in which cover layer 14Cis rigid, feedback component 70 may be an audio feedback component suchas a speaker that produces a sound when virtual button 52 is activated.In configurations in which cover layer 14C is flexible, component 70 maycontain an actuator such as a piezoelectric actuator 70. Piezoelectricactuators may vary in shape (e.g., thickness) in response to appliedcontrol voltages and may produce an output voltage when compressed(i.e., the piezoelectric element in component 70 may serve as a forcesensor in addition to serving as a controllable actuator). A user ofdevice 10 may exert force on flexible display 14 In direction 72. Ifdesired, flexible display 14 may be deformed to exert a mechanicalpressure on component 70, inducing a voltage which may be transmitted todevice 10. Conversely, component 70 may be used to provide tactilefeedback to a user of device 10. A voltage difference applied to thesurfaces of component 70 may induce an expansion of a piezoelectricactuator. Component 70 may then deform flexible display 14 in adirection outward of device 10 providing tactile feedback to a user ofdevice 10.

FIG. 8 shows a how portions of an edge display such as edge display 52may be repurposed from virtual buttons to an informational display. Asshown in FIG. 8, in one functional mode, edge display 52 may displayvirtual button Icons such as icons 80. In the example of FIG. 8, icons80 include a “+” and a “−” symbol surrounded by a circular border. Inthis example, icons 80 may indicate portions of display 14 that may betouched or tapped in order to raise (“+”) or lower (“−”) the volume ofaudio output from device 10. Audio output may be associated with thevoice of a caller on a cellular phone, with music or other medialplayback from device 10. Audio output may be output from speakers suchas speaker 19 (FIG. 1) or from speakers associated with headphones orother remotely connected speakers attached (using wired or wirelessconnections) to device 10. This is merely illustrative. Virtual buttonicons 80 may be any suitable icon associated with any operational modeof device 10. As another example, icons 80 may be a camera iconindicating the location of a virtual camera shutter button when device10 is operated as in a picture capturing mode.

As indicated by arrows 86, a user of device 10 may swipe edge display 52(e.g., a single swipe in a single direction, multiple swipes in multipledirections, etc.) using a finger. Swiping edge display 52 may change thefunction of edge display 52. Changing the function of edge display 52using a swipe of edge display 52 is merely illustrative. The function ofedge display 52 may be changed using any suitable touch input to display14 (e.g., single tap, multiple taps, pinching, circular motions, etc.)

As shown in FIG. 8, swiping edge display 52 may cause virtual buttons 80to be replaced by an informational display such as informational display82. In the example of FIG. 8, informational display 82 is a “NOWPLAYING” text display associated with a media file being played back toa user of device 10. This is merely illustrative. Informational display82 may be any text, image or other graphical display. If desired,informational display 82 may be a flashing display, may appeartemporarily and return to a virtual button display, may scroll acrossedge display 52 in direction 84, direction 88 or in a directionperpendicular to directions 84 and 88.

If desired, when changing operating modes of device 10 or when changingthe function of edge display 52, virtual button icons 80 may berepositioned to another portion of edge display 52 or to another edgedisplay 52 as shown in FIG. 9. In the example of FIG. 9, virtual volumebutton icons 80 may occupy a first region of edge display 52 such asregion 90. When a user changes the function of edge display 52 orchanges the mode of operation of device 10 (e.g., by swiping edgedisplay 52 as indicated by arrows 86), region 90 may be repurposed as aninformational display or as a virtual button with a different function(e.g., a virtual camera shutter button). When a user changes thefunction of edge display 52 or changes the mode of operation of device10, virtual button icons 80 may be moved to a different portion of edgedisplay 52 such, as portion 92. Moving icons 80 to portion 92 may allowdevice 10 to use region 90 for another purpose (e.g., as a camerashutter or informational display) while still providing a user of device10 with the ability to (for example) change audio output volume.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of device 10 in thevicinity of a virtual button 52 having a biasing member 94. In theexample of FIG. 10, biasing member 94 is a dome-shaped biasing memberthat pushes transparent button member 62 outward in direction 96 whenthe user releases pressure from button member 62. Other types of biasingmembers may used if desired, such as spring-based biasing members orother biasing structures that bias button members such as button member62. The use of a dome-shaped biasing structure is merely illustrative.If desired, transparent button member 62 may include a conductivematerial such as conductive material 98. Conductive material 98 may forma portion touch-sensitive circuit that detects a touch of button member62 by a user of device 10. Positioning biasing member 94 betweenflexible display 14 and button member 62 is merely illustrative. Becausedisplay 14 is flexible, biasing member 94 may be placed in a positionbehind flexible display 14 such as position 100. In configurations inwhich biasing member 94 is positioned behind flexible display 14, buttonmember 62 may deform flexible display 14 when pushed by a user of device10. Deforming flexible display 14 with button member 62 may compressbiasing member 94. When released, biasing member 94 may push flexibledisplay 14 against transparent button member 62 pushing button member 62outward in direction 96.

As shown in FIG. 11, touch-sensitive flexible display regions 52 on edge24 of device 10 may have an associated lens for magnifying or otherwisealtering the path of light 64 emitted by display layer 14A of display14. For example, lens 102 may magnify text or other informationdisplayed on sidewall (edge) display 52). Edge displays 52 formed fromactive portions of touch-sensitive flexible display section 14AB may beformed in openings such as openings 18 in a structural member such asstructural member 68. Structural member 68 may be formed from a portionof housing 12, may be formed from a portion of cover layer 14C or may beformed from another structural member of device 10. A lens such as lens102 may be mounted in opening 18. Lens 102 may be formed from atransparent material such as plastic, glass, or other transparentmaterial. Light such as light 64 generated by display pixels in displaylayer 14A may pass through lens 102 so that edge display 52 may bevisible through lens 102. Providing edge display 52 with a lens such aslens may provide a brighter edge display, may cause a virtual button toappear larger than its physical size or may otherwise enhance thefunction of edge display 52.

If desired, lens 102 may be formed as a portion of a transparent buttonmember such as transparent button member 62, as shown in FIG. 12. Lens102 may be formed as an integral portion of button member 62 or may be aseparate lens member that is mounted to button member 62. Providingdevice 10 with edge displays 52 that form virtual buttons havingtransparent button members 62 with lenses 102 may provide a brighteredge display or may cause a virtual button to appear larger than itsphysical size while providing a tactile indicator to a user of device 10of the location of virtual button 52.

FIG. 13 shows how touch-sensitive flexible display 14AB may be coupledto control circuitry such as control circuitry 120. Control circuitry120 may include storage such as flash memory, hard disk drive memory,solid state storage devices, other nonvolatile memory, random-accessmemory and other volatile memory, etc. Control circuitry 120 may alsoinclude processing circuitry. The processing circuitry of controlcircuitry 120 may include digital signal processors, microcontrollers,application specific integrated circuits, microprocessors, powermanagement unit (PMU) circuits, and processing circuitry that is part ofother types of integrated circuits.

Control circuitry 120 may be used to run software on device 10, such asinternet browsing applications, voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP)telephone call applications, email applications, media playbackapplications, operating system functions, etc. Control circuitry 120 maybe used to configure and operate display pixels and touch-sensitiveelements associated with touch-sensitive flexible display 14AB. Forexample, control circuitry 120 may be used to illuminate or inactivateportions of display 14 to create active and inactive regions. As anotherexample, control circuitry 120 may be used to change the operating modeof device 10 and/or the functional mode of edge displays 52 based ontouch-input to touch-sensitive flexible display 14AB or other userinput. When a user touches virtual button 52, control circuitry 120 cantake suitable action. As examples, contact between a user's finger orother external object and virtual button 52 may direct device 10 to takeactions such as displaying information for a user, making a volumeadjustment to media that is being played to the user, controlling mediaplayback, taking an action associated with a wireless communicationssession, or otherwise taking suitable action.

One or more virtual buttons such as virtual button 52 may be used toform volume adjustment switches (e.g., sliding controls), ringerbuttons, on/off buttons, sleep buttons, customized buttons (e.g.,buttons that are specific to a particular program or operating systemthat is running on device 10 and that change in real time during use ofdevice 10), etc. If desired, virtual buttons may be labeled withparticular colors, patterns, icons, text, or other information to assista user in identifying the function of the button.

Touch-sensitive flexible display 14AB may include front surface displayportions 112 and one or more sidewall surface (edge) display portions114. Sidewall surface display portions 114 may, if desired, be separatedfrom front surface display portion 112 by regions 118. Regions 118 maybe blocked from view using masking structures such as portions of adevice housing or a patterned opaque masking layer. Regions 118 may beregions of unilluminated (inactive) pixels. Control circuitry 120 may beused to configure touch-sensitive flexible display 14AB to have regions118 with inactive pixels. As shown in FIG. 13, regions 118 may, ifdesired, include control circuitry such as conductive traces 122.Conductive traces 122 may be electrically coupled to control circuitry120. Conductive traces 122 may be control lines for display pixels inregions 112 and 114. Display 14 may have additional control circuitry(e.g., control lines, drive lines, etc.) along a peripheral edge ofdisplay 14. Providing display 14 with control circuitry in regions 118may reduce the area required for control circuitry on the peripheraledge of display 14. Providing display 14 with control circuitry inregions 118 may allow multiple displays (i.e., displays 112 and 114) tobe coupled to control circuitry 120 using a common interconnect (e.g., acommon flex circuit that interconnects display 14 with control circuitry120. Connecting multiple displays to control circuitry 120 using acommon interconnect may help reduce the space required forinterconnects, thereby reducing, for example, the size, production costand complexity of devices such as device 10.

As shown in FIG. 13, sidewall surface display portions 114 may includeilluminated touch-sensitive regions 52. Control circuitry 120 may beused to configure touch-sensitive flexible display 14AB to illuminatepixels in illuminated touch-sensitive regions 52 and to turn off (orinactivate) remaining pixels in sidewall surface display portions 114.Illuminating pixels in illuminated touch-sensitive regions 52 andinactivating other pixels in sidewall surface display portions 114 mayseparate front surface display portion 112 from illuminatedtouch-sensitive regions 52. Illuminated touch-sensitive regions 52 maybe configured to remain stationary in sidewall surface display portions114 or may be repositioned in sidewall surface display portions 114during normal use of device 10 using control circuitry 120. If desired,illuminated touch-sensitive regions 52 may occupy all or substantiallyall of sidewall surface display portions 114. Virtual buttons 52 may bereconfigured during use of device 10. For example, device 10 may usesidewall region 114 to display a first set of buttons when operated inone mode and may use region 114 to display a second (different) set ofbuttons when operated in another mode.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of device 10 showing how virtual buttons52 may form a portion of a gaming controller when device 10 is operatedin a landscape position. As shown in FIG. 14, sidewall surface 24 mayinclude one or more virtual buttons 52. During operation of device 10 ina gaming mode, portions of display 14 that are visible on front surface22 of device 10 may display additional virtual buttons such asadditional virtual buttons 126. Virtual buttons 52, additional virtualbuttons 126 and other components of device 10 (e.g., accelerometers) maybe used in combination to deliver user input to device 10 for gamingsoftware applications. Virtual buttons 52 may be operated by a touch,swipe, multiple touches or other touch inputs to virtual buttons 52 and126. Virtual buttons 52 may be used separately (i.e., one at a time) orin combination (e.g., simultaneously) to produce different inputs todevice 10. Virtual buttons 126 may be used separately (i.e., one at atime) or in combination (e.g., simultaneously) to produce differentinputs to device 10. Virtual buttons 52 and 126 may be used separately(e.g., one at a time, two at a time, etc.) or in combination (e.g.,combinations of two virtual buttons, three virtual buttons four virtualbuttons, or more than four virtual buttons simultaneously) to producedifferent inputs to device 10.

In order to prevent erroneous inputs to virtual buttons such as virtualbuttons 52 on a sidewall of device 10, device 10 may be provided withone or more sensors such as proximity sensor 124. As an example, whiledevice 10 is in a gaming mode of operation, device 10 may be temporarilyheld in palm of a user, in a pocket of a user's clothing, may be held inan orientation typically associated with using device 10 during acellular telephone call, etc. Sensors such as proximity sensor 124 maybe used to determine whether a touch input to virtual buttons 52 is anintended touch by a finger or, for example, an unintended touch by thepalm of a hand. This is merely illustrative. Control circuitry 120 (seeFIG. 13) may be configured to use other device components such as lightsensors, motion sensors (accelerometers), capacitance sensors, etc. todetermine the orientation of device 10 and the intent of a touch inputto virtual buttons 52. Software running on control circuitry 120 may beconfigured to accept input from components such as proximity sensor 124or other components to determine whether a touch input to virtualbuttons 52 is intended or unintended. Touch inputs to virtual buttons 52that are determined to be unintended may be ignored.

FIG. 15 is a side view of a portion of an illuminated touch-sensitiveregion 52 on a sidewall portion 24 of display 14 showing how illuminatedtouch-sensitive region 52 may be used to form one or more selectionbuttons 127 for selecting a software application to be run on device 10using control circuitry 120. As shown in FIG. 15, selection buttons 127may include illuminated icons 128 associate with selected softwareapplications such as text messaging, calendar, camera, calculator, mediaplayer, web browser, email client, cellular telephone, or other softwareapplications. A selected software application may be activated, using atouch input to a portion of illuminated touch-sensitive region 52associated with a selected selection button 127. As an example,selecting a camera application button may cause selection buttons 127 onilluminated touch-sensitive region 52 to be replaced by function buttonsassociated with the selected application.

As shown in FIG. 16, function buttons such as function buttons 130associated with a selected application may include touch buttons havingicons 132 displayed that indicate the function of function button 130and slider buttons such as slider button 130 that have multipleassociated icons 132 that indicate a function associated with multiplepositions of slider button 130. In the example of FIG. 16, functionbuttons 130 include camera function buttons such as a button for turningon, off or setting to automatic setting for a camera flash. Functionbuttons 130 may include a button with a camera icon 132 indicating acamera shutter button. Function buttons 130 may include a slider switchwith a first position 136 for selecting (for example) a snapshot modeand a second position 138 for selecting (for example) a video mode. Thisis merely illustrative. Slider buttons 130 may have a continuouslychanging function with the continuously changing position of the sliderbutton (e.g., a continuous zooming control, focus control, light levelcontrol, exposure control, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 17, function buttons 130 may display a portion of acalendar. Calendar function burtons 130 may include visible indicators134 of an appointment associated with a selected, displayed calendarday. Function buttons 130 associated with a calendar application mayinclude arrows for causing edge display 52 to display adjacent calendardays. Illuminated touch-sensitive region 52 may allow scrolling ofcalendar function buttons vertically or horizontally along Illuminatedtouch-sensitive region 52 in response to a swipe input by a user ofdevice 10 in a vertical or horizontal direction respectively. Somesoftware applications such as media player applications may haveassociated lists in addition to or instead of function buttons 130.

As shown in FIG. 18, illuminated touch-sensitive region 52 may display alist associated with a media player software application for device 10.In the example of FIG. 18, illuminated touch-sensitive region 52displays a scrollable list of song titles 140. Swiping edge display 52in a vertical direction (as indicated by arrows 144) may cause edgedisplay 52 to display song titles 140 above or below the currentlydisplayed song title 140 in the list of song titles. Swiping edgedisplay 52 in a horizontal direction (as indicated by arrows 146) maycause edge display 52 to display a different list associated with thesame software application such as artist lists, album, lists, playlistlists, video lists, genre lists, webcast lists, audio book lists, etc.

In the example of FIG. 19, swiping edge display 52 in a horizontaldirection (as indicated by arrows 146) may cause edge display 52 todisplay a list of artists 142 associated with media files stored oncircuitry 120 of device 10. After swiping edge display 52 to cause edgedisplay 52 to display a list of artists 142, swiping edge display 52 ina vertical direction (as indicated by arrows 144) may cause edge display52 to display artist names 142 above or below the currently displayedartist name 142 as shown in FIG. 20. The examples of FIGS. 15, 16, 17,18, 19, and 20 are merely illustrative. In general, illuminatedtouch-sensitive regions 52 on a sidewall surface 24 of device 10 may bevirtual buttons such as caps lock, shift, control, delete, page up/down,number lock, function-specific buttons, escape, enter, multiply, add,divide, subtract, memory storage, clear, all clear, percent, squareroot, other calculator buttons, text messaging, calendar, calculator,media player, web browser, email client, cellular telephone, or othersoftware applications, menu, ringer on/off, ringer on/off/vibrate,lock/unlock, call, an end-call, or any other button or other visualinformation display.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the

principles of this Invention and various modifications can be made bythose skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device having opposing front andrear surfaces that are joined by a sidewall surface, comprising: a firstarray of display pixels configured to display images on the frontsurface; a second array of display pixels configured to display imageson the sidewall surface; and an opaque masking material that separatesthe first array of display pixels from the second array of displaypixels.
 2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprising aflexible substrate having a first portion that lies in a plane and asecond portion that is bent out of the plane, wherein the first array ofdisplay pixels is formed on the first portion of the flexible substrateand wherein the second array of display pixels is formed on the secondportion of the flexible substrate.
 3. The electronic device defined inclaim 2 wherein the flexible substrate comprises a flexible sheet ofpolymer.
 4. The electronic device defined in claim 1 further comprisinga cover layer formed over the first and second array of display pixels,wherein the opaque masking material is formed on an inner surface of thecover layer.
 5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein thesecond array of display pixels is configured to display at least onevirtual button and wherein the opaque masking material surrounds the atleast one virtual button.
 6. The electronic device defined in claim 5further comprising capacitive touch sensor electrodes that overlap theat least one virtual button.
 7. The electronic device defined in claim 1wherein the first array of display pixels comprises organiclight-emitting diode display pixels.
 8. The electronic device defined inclaim 1 wherein the second array of display pixels comprises organiclight-emitting diode display pixels.
 9. An electronic device havingfirst and second exterior surfaces, wherein the first and secondexterior surfaces are non-parallel to each other, comprising: an organiclight-emitting diode display having a substrate on which an array ofdisplay pixels is formed, wherein the substrate has a first portionparallel to the first exterior surface and a second portion parallel tothe second exterior surface; and a cover layer formed over the organiclight-emitting diode display, wherein the cover layer has a firstportion that forms the first exterior surface of the electronic deviceand a second portion that forms the second exterior surface of theelectronic device.
 10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 whereinthe array of display pixels is formed on the first portion of thesubstrate and is configured to display images on the first exteriorsurface.
 11. The electronic device defined in claim 10 furthercomprising additional display pixels formed on the second portion of thesubstrate.
 12. The electronic device defined in claim 11 wherein theadditional display pixels are configured to form reconfigurable virtualbuttons on the second exterior surface.
 13. An electronic device havinga front surface and a sidewall surface, comprising: an array of displaypixels configured to display images on the front surface of theelectronic device; and a plurality of touch-sensitive virtual buttons onthe sidewall surface of the electronic device, wherein each of thetouch-sensitive virtual buttons comprises a plurality of light-emittingdiodes and wherein the touch-sensitive virtual buttons are separatedfrom each other by inactive regions.
 14. The electronic device definedin claim 13 further comprising display control circuitry configured toalter the images displayed by the array of display pixels in response toactivation of the touch-sensitive virtual buttons.
 15. The electronicdevice defined in claim 13 further comprising opaque masking materialformed in the inactive regions.
 16. The electronic device defined inclaim 15 further comprising a cover layer formed over thetouch-sensitive virtual buttons, wherein the opaque masking material isformed on an inner surface of the cover layer.
 17. The electronic devicedefined in claim 15 wherein the opaque masking material separates thearray of display pixels from the plurality of touch-sensitive virtualbuttons.
 18. The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein at leastone of the touch-sensitive virtual buttons comprises a tactile indicatorfor indicating the location of the touch-sensitive virtual button. 19.The electronic device defined in claim 13 wherein the touch-sensitivevirtual buttons comprise capacitive touch sensor electrodes.
 20. Theelectronic device defined in claim 13 further comprising a flexiblesubstrate having a first portion that lies in a plane and a secondportion that is bent out of the plane, wherein the array of displaypixels is formed on the first portion of the flexible substrate andwherein the plurality of light-emitting diodes is formed on the secondportion of the flexible substrate.
 21. An electronic device having afront surface and a sidewall surface, comprising: an array of displaypixels configured to display images on the front surface of theelectronic device; and a touch-sensitive virtual button on the sidewallsurface of the electronic device, wherein the touch-sensitive virtualbutton comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes and wherein thetouch-sensitive virtual button is surrounded by an inactive area on thesidewall surface of the electronic device.
 22. The electronic devicedefined in claim 21 further comprising an opaque masking material in theinactive area having an opening that aligns with the touch-sensitivevirtual button.
 23. The electronic device defined in claim 21 furthercomprising a housing sidewall in the inactive area having an openingthat aligns with the touch-sensitive virtual button.
 24. The electronicdevice defined in claim 21 wherein the touch-sensitive virtual buttoncomprises capacitive touch sensor electrodes.
 25. The electronic devicedefined in claim 21 further comprising a flexible substrate having afirst portion that lies in a plane and a second portion that is bent outof the plane, wherein the array of display pixels is formed on the firstportion of the flexible substrate and wherein the plurality oflight-emitting diodes is formed on the second portion of the flexiblesubstrate.